For the 254 youngsters newly vetted as NFL rookies, the 2013 draft forever will be a landmark moment in their lives. But the event sends a different message to the league's current players, namely, "You've been put on notice."

Almost no one is safe.

Tennessee Titans head coach Mike Munchak knows this from experience even though his 12-year playing career landed him in the Hall of Fame. "It doesn't matter what position you draft," he said, "it creates uncomfortableness, it creates questions."

Perhaps no one is more uneasy than New York Jets quarterback Mark Sanchez, whose play has steadily declined the past two years (52 total turnovers in that span) after his first two seasons ended with AFC Championship Game losses. Enter Geno Smith, the highly touted touted West Virginia quarterback who fell into the waiting arms of new Jets general manager John Idzik with the 39th pick after some prognostications that Smith was worthy of a top-five selection failed to materialize.

"What this means for Mark Sanchez is competition, and Mark is open to that," Idzik said. "We've had discussions about that, and I think he buys into the fact that that helps him and it helps any player on our team."

Those discussions apparently didn't include head coach Rex Ryan, who admitted during an NFL Network interview Saturday that he hadn't spoken to Sanchez since the Jets called Smith's name Friday. Ryan gladly joined himself to Sanchez's hip when both arrived in New York in 2009, but now oversees a quarterback room with five other players, including veteran David Garrard and controversial Tim Tebow (for now), vying for Sanchez's seemingly tenuous playing time.

Smith even out-Rexed Ryan by predicting a Jets playoff berth this season while announcing, "My goal is to be a franchise quarterback."

Trouble in Tampa?

Sanchez's 2009 draft mate, Josh Freeman of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers, undoubtedly shares Smith's sentiment. But Freeman has watched the Bucs earmark nearly $250 million over the past year to cornerback Darrelle Revis (late of the Jets), receiver Vincent Jackson, guard Carl Nicks and safety Dashon Goldson while opting not to extend his contract, which expires after this season. GM Mark Dominik drafted his own promising quarterback, North Carolina State's Mike Glennon, in the third round Friday.

"If something happens to Josh Freeman, we want to be able to keep the season rolling," Dominik said in a reference to the team's depth chart, but a statement that could be interpretted differently in 2014 if Freeman merely plays well enough for the team to again sniff the playoffs.

The NFC champion San Francisco 49ers appear far better equipped for another postseason run. But their already enviable roster could be in for a shakeup after GM Trent Baalke decided to keep most of his draft picks and added 11 new players to the mix.

One of them was South Carolina running back Marcus Lattimore, widely regarded as the draft's most gifted runner, though he could spend 2013 on injured reserve as he continues rehabilitating the three knee ligaments he sheared last October. Head coach Jim Harbaugh promised the Niners will "make sure Marcus is 100% healthy before he goes out there on the field. If he doesn't play this year, then he doesn't play this year."

What about next year? Well, quarterback Colin Kaepernick will be eligible for, presumably, a deserved raise for the first time while Baalke will also be weighing new deals for wideout Michael Crabtree, pass rusher Aldon Smith, guard Mike Iupati and safety Donte Whitner, among others. The tea leaves can change, but with Lattimore waiting in the wings, incumbent Frank Gore probably shouldn't count on his $6.5 million salary or a roster spot in 2014, when he'll be 31.

Yet it's not just the big-name players looking over their shoulders. Every veteran clinging to the bottom of a roster that holds just 53 names knows he must play that much better to beat out rookies who boast younger legs and, often, cheaper contracts.

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Even newly signed free agents aren't immune in a hyper-competitive league.

Running back Rashard Mendenhall and linebacker Rolando McClain are both former first rounders who have yet reached their 26th birthdays. A few weeks ago, they were probably anticipating fresh starts with their new clubs.

That was before Mendenhall watched the Arizona Cardinals pounce on not one, but two promising running backs (Stepfan Taylor and Andre Ellington) Saturday.

McClain, who was the eighth pick of the 2010 draft but wore out his welcome with the Oakland Raiders, received a lifeline from fellow former Crimson Tide star Ozzie Newsome this month. That was before McClain was again arrested in his hometown of Decatur, Ala. His third arrest in less than 17 months came nine days after the Ravens acquired him.

The response from Newsome, the Baltimore Ravens GM?

He spent a second-round pick on Kansas State star Arthur Brown, who happens to play inside linebacker, the same position as McClain

"We have some pretty good linebackers, guys who have played a lot of football, but Arthur is a motivated guy," Ravens assistant GM Eric DeCosta said of Brown. "I think he's a mature player, a very talented player."

Feel free to read between the lines. A lot of veterans are doing the same right now.